


insanity is hereditary (you get it from your children)

by alittlestitious



Series: Struck [2]
Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2018-10-31 19:18:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10905768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlestitious/pseuds/alittlestitious
Summary: Tobin, Christen, and their little brood.3. lying by omission is still lying





	1. Mothers' Day Celebration

**Author's Note:**

> A glimpse of the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this!

“You’re not supposed to do that,” Hayden says, frustratedly, glaring at her brothers and sisters.

 

“Chill, Hayds,” Asher says from the stove as he cooks the eggs and bacon. “Let them have fun.”

 

“Ash, Vero is putting some shit in the juice,” Hayden says, horrified as she runs towards her little sister grabbing her hand to prevent her from sprinkling anything else in the juice.

 

“Hayds, coin jah!” Vero says pointing at the coin jar with her free hand.

 

Hayden sighs as she grabs whatever is in Vero’s hand and throws it away. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll put it in later,” she says and grabs her sister from around her waist moving her away from where their finished tray was on the dining table and sets her next to Micah. “Why don’t you go decorate the pancakes with Roo?”

 

She grabs the glass of juice and dumping the remains in the sink. She can see small pieces of crayons getting caught in the strainer. She shakes her head, huffing a laugh at her little sister. She goes back to cutting the fruits. She holds up the knife up to her eyes, a memory playing in her head. “Remember when mom cut her fingers off?”

 

Asher laughs as he flips the eggs. “Oh yeah.”

 

“You were convinced that the Christen mama came home with was not the same Christen,” Hayden laughs.

 

Asher scowls. “She was high when she came back! She wasn’t like herself!”

 

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” Hayden says as she scoops the cut-up fruit into a bowl. “Where’s Kaylee?”

 

“She was outside,” Asher says as he looks over his shoulder to the window. He leaves his egg/bacon station for a moment and goes to the sliding door, passing Vero and Micah. He looks down at their pancakes. Micah was very meticulous, placing each fruit on each pancake carefully while Vero was just grabbing handfuls and throwing it haphazardly, not even caring where they land. “Good job, guys.”

 

Asher opens the door and sticks his head out, eyes roaming around the yard to see the black-haired girl. “She’s not outside,” Asher reports, shutting the door. “Micah, can you get Kaylee?”

 

“But I’m not finished decorating,” Micah whines. He glances over at his sister who was gleefully at this point just throwing fruits and syrup on the pancakes and cringes. “And Vero is going to destroy my pancakes.”

 

“Why don’t we put the finished pancakes with Hayden that way Vero can’t wreck it,” Asher bargains.

 

“I’ll keep it safe,” Hayden assures him as she takes over Asher’s station.

 

“Okay,” Micah says reluctantly as he grabs his plate and brings it over to the counter. “I’ll go get Kaylee.”

 

“All done!” Vero calls from her spot as she holds up her hands.

 

Asher and Hayden exchange a look, before putting their fingers on their noses, screaming. “Not it!”

 

“I checked for Kaylee,” Asher says.

 

“I changed her diaper,” Hayden argues, raising her eyebrows.

 

Asher groans. “Fine,” he says. “C’mon, Ver, let’s go wash your hands.”

 

“Mommy?” Vero asks.

 

“Not yet,” Asher says as he grabs his sister by the waist and takes her to the sink. He turns on the sink, letting Vero wash her hands. When she was done, Asher puts her down and Vero immediately runs to Hayden.

 

“Hayds, mommy?” Vero asks, tugging on Hayden’s shirt.

 

“Not yet,” Hayden says. “Couple of more minutes, okay?”

 

“Kay,” Vero says as she goes back to the dining table as Asher gives her some crayons and her favorite coloring book to entertain her.

 

“Found her!” Micah calls as he comes in with Kaylee trailing behind him, holding the small scrapbook that Hayden, Asher, and Kaylee made.

 

“Did you finish your part?” Hayden asks as she puts everything they cooked on the tray, including Vero’s super sweet pancake.

 

“Yeah,” Kaylee says, holding up the scrapbook that had become a tradition in their family. “I feel like they get tired of us writing in this thing all the time.”

 

“Nah, mama loves it,” Hayden says. “You know how sappy she gets.” She hands Asher the tray. “Here.” Hayden grabs the flowers and a balloon, tying the balloon around Vero’s small wrist. Vero looks up at the mylar balloon with wide eyes, her eyes tracking the shiny.

 

“Hey, Asher, can you take this tray, please? _Oh, Hayden, of course, I would love to,”_ Asher says, mimicking Hayden’s voice.

 

“Whatever, Asher. You’re ridiculous.”

 

“Thank you, Asher,” Asher continues, voice still high-pitched similar to Hayden’s.

 

“Thank you, Asher,” Hayden repeats, rolling her eyes. She grabs Vero from the dining table. “Let’s go give this to the parentals.”

-

-

-

 

“Maybe I should go down there and help them,” Christen says as she sits up, hearing Vero squealing and a thud, presumably Vero hitting a wall as she runs. “Is that Vero?”

 

“Well, Micah doesn’t squeal like that,” Tobin says as she scrolls through her tablet. “Relax, babe. They’ve been doing this for almost two years and they haven’t burnt the kitchen down since that first time.”

 

Christen sighs and leans back against the pillows, trying to relax. “I know, but I’m still kinda iffy about them cooking in the kitchen.”

 

“Asher and Hayden are fifteen,” Tobin points out. “They’re more than capable of cooking us a small breakfast.” Tobin stops and listens. They can hear muffled arguing from the other side of the door.

 

“HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!”

 

The door open and all five kids burst through. Micah scrambling to get to the bed while Kaylee holds the scrapbook, Asher holds the food laden tray, and Hayden holds a clapping Vero. Kaylee abandons the scrapbook on the dresser, following Micah on the bed, settling herself by their feet.

 

“MOMMY!” Vero says, still clapping.

 

“Enjoy your breakfast, mothers,” Asher says putting the tray in front of them.

 

“Wow,” Christen says as she and Tobin share a cringe, trying to be subtle. “The pancakes are very colorful.”

 

“I di!” Vero says, pointing at the pancakes.

 

“Oh you made this?” Christen asks as she points at the very colorful pancake, stacked with chocolate chips, whip cream, cherries, sprinkles, and chocolate syrup.

 

“Yeah, Vero and I decorated it!” Micah says. He points at the one with the mango slices as hair, blueberries as eyes, and chocolate chips as the smile. “I did this one. It’s supposed to be you!”

 

“Do you think your mother and I look alike?” Tobin asks his son, confused.

 

Micah shrugs. “You’re both my mother.”

 

“So to you, mommy and I look alike?” Tobin asks.

 

“No,” Micah says, shaking his head. “Mommy is prettier.”

 

“I would be offended, but I agree with you,” Tobin says dropping a kiss on her cheek.

 

“Aw, how sweet,” Asher says.

 

“Stop being gross,” Kaylee whines as she flops by their feet.

 

“Hey, it’s mother’s day, let them be gross,” Hayden says.

 

“By all means, be gross,” Kaylee says, gesturing with her hands.

 

Christen turns to Tobin, skimming their noses together making their kids groan.

 

“I said be gross, not be cute!” Kaylee complains as she covers her eyes.

 

Hayden just smiles shaking her head at her mothers’ antics, knowing that she’s lucky that she had parents that love each other so much even after years of being together, setting a great example and foundation for her and her siblings.

 

“Mama, eat,” Vero says as she shimmies against Hayden, asking to be let down. Hayden puts her on the bed. Vero crawls to Tobin, pointing at her pancake. “Fow you!”

 

“Aww thank you my sweet girl,” Tobin says as she swipes some of the whip cream from the pancake and touches Vero’s nose with it and turns to Christen, laughing. “Look now she really is sweet girl.”

 

Christen laughs as she cuts her pancakes. “You’re such a dork.” She puts a pancake in her mouth as Micah watches her with such concentration. “MMMM!” Christen hums, giving Micah a wide smile. “It was really good, Roo.”

 

Micah’s little chest puffs out as he gives Christen a wide smile, so similar to Tobin’s. “Thank you, mommy.”

 

“Have you guys eaten?” Christen asks them.

 

“Yep,” Hayden nods. “I’ve fed and watered all the children.”

 

“Thank you, Hayds,” Christen says. “Now where’s the scrapbook? I wanna see Tobin cry.”

 

“Where is it, Kay?” Asher asks as Tobin lets out an indignant, “Hey!”

 

“On the dresser!” Kaylee calls. Vero was clutching a couple of the fruit slices that she swiped from Christen’s pancake and was now dropping it in Kaylee’s mouth, giggling. “Very delicious, Ver!”

 

“No, Vero! That’s for mommy!” Micah says, staring at his sister in horror.

 

“It’s fine, Roo,” Christen soothes, rubbing his back. “There’s plenty enough for everyone.”

 

“Okay, if you say so,” Micah says, quietly, still unsure.

 

“Here it is,” Asher says as he hands it to them, the book was at the correct page already. He turns to his little siblings. “Alright, my dudes, let them eat this in peace.” He grabs Vero and urges Kaylee to stand up from the bed. “Come down when you guys are done.”

 

“C’mon you little spawns, we gotta clean the kitchen,” Hayden says as she helps Micah down.

 

“No,” Kaylee groans as Asher gives her small taps to keep her going.

 

The door closes as Vero gives them a wave over Asher’s shoulder, making Tobin and Christen melt at their littlest. Their room immediately becomes engulf in silence again.

 

“What do you think the card says?” Tobin asks as she grabs a strawberry and uses it to take off some of the whip cream.

 

Christen watches her with a grimace on her face. “I worry about Vero sometimes.”

 

“She’s fine,” Tobin says. “At least she didn’t eat all this whip cream.”

 

“Who should we start with?” Christen asks as she scans over the writings of their children.

 

“Do Hayden first,” Tobin says.

 

“Because she makes you cry every single year?” Christen asks, rhetorically, her eyes skimming the page trying to find Hayden’s small script. She clears her throat.

 

“ _Dear mothers, words cannot explain how lucky we truly feel that you are our mothers. Day in and day out, you guys work hard to provide for us so that we want for nothing. You always make time for each and every one of us even though there’s five, soon-to-be six, of us and only two of you. I’ve always loved those times when we get to spend some one-on-one time with you, whether it’d be surfing for mama and me or when we volunteer at the shelter for mom and I. Thank you so much for being the best mothers in the world. I know I always don’t say it, but I love you guys and I’m so glad that I can call you my best friends,”_ Christen reads, her voice cracking as her eyes filled with tears at the words. She looks over to her wife and chuckles at the tears already rolling down her face.

 

“She’s so good with words,” Tobin defends as she dabs at her eyes. “Okay, who’s next? Kaylee?”

 

“Yeah,” Christen says as she hands over the scrapbook to Tobin. “Read it clearly, babe,” she teases.

 

“My voice haven't cracked from all the crying yet,” Tobin says, rolling her eyes. “Oh look we got personalized ones instead of one big one,” she points out. “Do you want me to read yours too?” She asks Christen.

 

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Christen says as she eats the pancake.

 

“ _Dear Mama,”_ Tobin begins. _“I love you. Thank you for always being there for me with cookies and milk, ready to make my problems go away. I’m glad that I don’t remember a time of you not being in my life because that would really suck. Happy Mother’s Day! Love, your bug.”_

 

Christen laughs. “Short and to the point. Read mine next!”

 

“Okay, okay calm down,” Tobin says. _“Hi, mommy! Happy Mother’s Day! Thank you for making our house always feel like home. You always drop everything whenever I have a question or a problem. You never make me feel like I’m not important. I love being your daughter and I am so happy that you’re my mother. I love you so much! Kay.”_  Tobin finishes with a smile on her face. “Why do we have such sweet kids?”

 

“Because we haven’t read Asher’s yet,” Christen snorts. “Read his, I wanna finish this food.”

 

“Okay,” Tobin says as she turns the page looking for Asher’s chicken scratch. “Here we go. _Dear parentals, Mama, first, I wanna thank you for bringing me into this world (ladies out there would also like to say their thanks)-”_

 

Christen snorts. “Where does he get these things?”

 

“Kelley,” Tobin says with a laugh. “I love his confidence. _Even though I knew your circumstances were less than an ideal, you never made me feel unwanted or unloved. You always tell me, I was unplanned, but never unloved and definitely never unwanted. Thank you for showing me what true unconditional love is when you had to constantly bail me out of situations that I know I’ve disappointed you in, but even then you always made sure that, you always had my back. I love you and I’m glad that you raised me,”_ Tobin finishes her part, breathlessly, the tears in her eyes slowly dropping. “Oh wow, that is unexpected. I really thought he was going to go for comedy again this year.”

 

“Oh shit,” Christen curses, dropping her fork as she wipes Tobin’s tears away. “That means his letter to me is going to make me cry.”

 

“You ready?”

 

“Hit me,” Christen says.

 

Tobin laughs and continues to read the next part addressed to Christen. “ _Next up, my mother that chose to be my mother. Mom, thank you for being my mom. I know this sounds lame and also very unoriginal, but that’s all I can tell you because you could’ve chosen not to be my mother. You could’ve chosen to just treat me as if I was just an inconvenience (you know like all those stepmothers from Disney movies?), but instead you didn’t. You took the time to nurture me, love me, and remind me every day that I was every bit your son as Kaylee and Hayden were your daughter. If mama showed me what unconditional love is, you showed me what complete love is.  A day to celebrate everything that you guys have ever done for us is not enough. Not even a lifetime can cover it. Love, Asher.”_

 

“Fuck that was good,” Christen says as she wipes away her tears. “Here! Let me read the little ones! I’m sure they’re going to make me laugh more than cry!”

 

Tobin hands over the scrapbook to Christen again so that she can finish her breakfast.

 

“Wait, Vero’s just says _I love my mothers_ in her cute little handwriting,” Christen coos as she traces it with her fingers. “I’m pretty sure either Hayden or Asher held her hand to write this.”

 

“Yeah because our two year old is a genius who can write already,” Tobin says as she looks at the handwriting. “Aww, that’s so cute.”

 

“Okay, Micah’s,” Christen says. She looks at the writing and laughs loudly as she saw what her son has written. “He wrote-” Christen stops short as her laughter caught up with her again.

 

“What did he write?” Tobin asks as she tries to look over Christen’s arm, but was unable to.

 

“He wrote song lyrics,” Christen sputters out when she finally calmed down a bit. “Well he wrote, _Dear mommy and mama, thank you for always making me my favorite mac and cheese with weenie bits and broccoli even though Vero hates it. Thank you for always singing that song from Tarzan-”_ Christen stops as she starts giggling again, her eyes . “Then he wrote the lyrics to _You’ll Be In My Heart_.” She shows it to Tobin who giggles with her as she saw that their youngest boy, indeed, wrote the lyrics to the song. “ _I love you as big as the sky and deep as an ocean_.”

 

Christen turns the page and was surprised to see a gift card tucked into spine of the page. She turns it over, smiling as she sees a gift card to that one restaurant that Tobin and Christen love eating at. She grabs it and shakes it in front of Tobin’s face. “It looks like they’re sending us out for dinner.”

 

Tobin grabs it and looks at the gift card. “Awesome! Do we or do we not have the best kids in the world?”

 

“Definitely the best,” Christen agrees. “C’mon, let’s go tell them their breakfast was awesome.”

 

“Even though they burned the bacon and I swear I just got diabetes from the pancakes?”

 

“Even then,” Christen says as she grabs her robe and wraps it around herself, heading downstairs. “C’mon!”

 

Tobin gathers the tray and follows her wife.

-

-

-

All five kids were in front of the tv in the family room. Well, the tv was on, but Asher was playing with Vero, throwing her up in the air, making the little baby squeal while Kaylee and Micah were playing go fish on the carpet. Hayden was laying on the couch, reading something on her tablet.

 

“Hey, guys,” Christen greets them.

 

“How was the breakfast?”

 

“Did you like it mommy?” Micah asks, eagerly, running to Christen.

 

“We loved it. It was very delicious,” Christen says, swinging Micah in her arms.

 

“So your mother and I talked and although we appreciate that you guys are giving us a night alone,” Tobin starts. “But we thought we could all do something together. I mean we wouldn’t be mothers unless we have kids right? I mean we could have imaginary kids, but people frown on you saying you have a kid when you don’t-” Christen elbows her to stop her rambling. “But yeah we thought we could do something together.”

 

“What are we doing?” Kaylee asks.

 

“How about we camp in the backyard? Campfire, s’mores, sleeping in a tent, the whole she-bang,” Christen says, making Micah and Kaylee nod and yell in delight. “I’m guessing that’s a yes for these two. Ash? Hayds?”

 

“That sounds fun,” Hayden says, turning off her tablet.

 

“Yeah, we haven’t done it in awhile,” Asher agrees. “I’ll go grab the sleeping bags and the tents.”

 

“Alright, let’s get to work, gang,” Tobin says, clapping her hand.

-

-

-

“Mama is the moon really made out of cheese?” Micah asks as Tobin helps him with his s’mores.

 

“Well what do you think?” Tobin asks, nodding at the full moon in the sky.

 

“I think it is, but it’s not made out of swiss cheese,” Micah says.

 

“Well what cheese do you think it’s made out of?” Tobin asks.

 

“Camembert,” Micah says matter-of-factly before walking back to where Asher is and sitting next to him, leaving Tobin laughing.

 

“Our son just said the moon is made out of cheese,” Tobin says when Christen comes back from kicking a ball around with Kaylee, panting.

 

“So?” Christen asks as she squirts some water in her mouth. “All kids say that.”

 

“Yeah but guess what cheese he thinks it’s made out of?

 

“Swiss?”

 

Tobin makes a buzzing noise. “Wrong. Camembert.”

 

Christen laughs. “Where would he get that?”

 

“Probably your mother. You guys like to do all those fancy cheese and wine things,” Tobin says.

 

Christen nods. “Yeah you’re right.”

 

“Yep, I mean you were a debutante for goodness sake!” Tobin teases, making Christen slap her on the arm.

 

“Shut up!”

 

Tobin offers her a s’more that she just made. “Want some?”

 

“Yes, please!” Christen says grabbing it from her hands. “We should do this more often.” She watches Hayden and Asher, who were already in their own little world, talking about god who knows what. “Remember when they used to all fit in just one chair?”

 

Tobin laughs. “Yeah, can you believe it’s been seven years?”

 

Christen shakes her head. “I’m still surprised you agreed to marry me.”

 

“How can I not? You were crying! And you got the kids in on it too!” Tobin says. "You know I can't resist your ugly crying face."

 

"I do not have an ugly crying face!" 

 

"Yeah you do," Tobin says. "But don't worry that ugly crying face is golden in getting what you want."

 

"Keep talking and I'll show you your ugly crying face," Christen threatens. She grabs the marshmallow popping one in her mouth. “Although it’s been seven years, I should be allowed to cut food."

 

“I let you cut things!”

 

“You let me cut food with a _butter_ knife,” Christen points out.

 

“Because you cut your fingers off!”

 

“Seven years ago!”

 

Tobin sighs. “Fine, we’ll start slow to make sure you don’t accidentally cut yourself again.”

 

“Unless you’re going to drop a bombshell, I’ll be fine,” Christen says.

 

“A bombshell like the fact that we just got a call from our lawyer and that they’ve set the date for the hearing?” Tobin asks with a sly smile.

 

“WHAT?!”

 

All eyes swing to Christen at her outburst and Micah runs to Christen, worried.

 

“Are you okay, mommy?” he asks, concern swimming in his hazel eyes.

 

Christen sweeps Micah into her arms, hugging him tightly to her. She hides her face in her baby boy’s curls as she cries. Tobin smiles wrapping her arm around them, holding them close.

 

“Mommy why are you crying?” Micah asks, panic in his eyes as he looks at his other mother for reassurance. “Mama, is mommy okay?”

 

“She’s fine, Roo, we just received really good news,” Tobin says, dropping a kiss on his forehead. “It’s happy tears.”

 

“Well, don't just stand there hugging each other, share the good news,” Asher says.

 

“We got a hearing date,” Tobin tells the two teens.

 

“Oh my god,” Hayden says with a wide smile as she throws herself at Micah and Christen.

 

“That’s awesome!” Asher says, high-fiving Tobin before joining in on the hug. "Did you hear that, bud?" He asks Micah. "You're officially our brother!"

 

Micah's eyes widen. "You mean I don't have to go back with Ms. Leslie?"

 

Christen shakes her head. "Nope, you get to stay here with us," she says as she strokes her head. "You're ours now."

 

Micah gives them a wide smile and throws his arms around Christen's neck, burying his face there. 

 

“C’mon, Ver,” Tobin says as she swings their daughter into her arms. “Let’s join in on the fun.”

 

“Hey, don’t forget me!” Kaylee says as she goes underneath all their arms, ending up right next to Micah’s foot and between Tobin and Asher.

 

“Best Mothers’ Day present?” Tobin asks Christen over the heads of their children. Christen nods, still a little bit choked up.

 

“Happy Mothers’ Day,” Christen gasps out, amid her happy tears.

 

Below her, their kids scream out a variation of _I love yous_ and _Happy Mother’s Day_ to them. Tobin’s shimmering eyes meets Christen’s eyes over their head, conveying her love to her wife as she held her world in her arms. She carefully reaches over and gives her a kiss, it wasn’t anything risque by any means. Just a small gentle kiss, trying to show her her love that she couldn’t say through words.

 

But it still made her their kids groan at their small public display of affection.

 

“Ew!” Kaylee says watching. “Don’t do it over us!”

 

“You’re lucky that’s all they’re doing over us,” Asher comments.

 

“Asher…” Christen warns.

 

“What? I was talking about french kissing! What were you guys talking about?” Asher asks, innocently.

 

“Nice try, I know what you’re trying to pull out of your ass,” Tobin says.

 

“That’s three dollars!” Asher says in delight.

 

Tobin rolls her eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll put in the jar later."

  
There was silence between all seven of their family members as they stand around just holding each other close. Tobin loves the feeling of holding all of her children and the love of her life in her arms, never wanting to let go. 

 

Until Micah starts squirming. "I have to pee," he whines. 

 

Immediately, the three older kids unlatched themselves not wanting to get peed on by a five year old. As if the group hug never happened, Asher and Hayden were back at their chairs and Kaylee went back to her ball, wanting to focus on honing her skills. Christen let Micah go as he runs to the bathroom, screaming, "I gotta go!" at the top of his lungs. 

 

Tobin turns back to Christen, wrapping her arms around her. "Ready to be a parent for the fifth time?"

 

"I mean we kinda lucked out on Micah, he's already walking, talking, and he came potty trained," Christen says. 

 

Tobin laughs. "That's true."

 

"Are you guys just going to stand there or are you guys going to watch the movie with us?" Asher asks his mothers.

 

"Yeah stop being creepers," Kaylee calls from her spot on the picnic blanket.

 

"Hey it's mothers' days! Be nice to your mothers!" Tobin calls as she laces her fingers with Christen's, walking towards the kids.

 

"It's also going to be too late and we'll never watch this movie," Hayden moans. "Just sit down, mothers."

 

"Alright, alright," Tobin relents as she sits down at the edge of the blanket, pulling Christen between her legs. She tells Christen to grab the popcorn as Asher sets up their small projector against the white sheet that they hung there. She puts the popcorn in front of her and Christen, using it as a small projectile whenever the kids got too rowdy in front of them. Her hands immediately go underneath Christen's shirt, feeling the small baby pooch (as Christen calls it) between her hips. She drops a kiss on Christen's hairline, knowing that pretty soon their family really will be complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there! Thank you for reading!


	2. Did you know that girls push the babies out of their vagina?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon: i can only imagine what the couple days after after vero's birth was like. especially with asher, when ppl ask him why he wasn't at school lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so that comment above sparked a small one shot

“You’re so lucky you got sick right before winter break,” Emerson said as he throws a baseball at Asher. “Ms. O’Reilly gave us a pop quiz.”

 

Asher catches it in the air with his left hand. “It’s Social Studies,” Asher points out, unsure why his friend would have trouble with it. “It’s not exactly hard.” He throws the baseball at his friend, trying a trick he was watching on YouTube.

 

“Easy for you to say, you memorize dates like crazy,” Emerson says, raising his chin at his friend. “And this one was  _ hard _ .” Emerson jumps up to catch the ball, but it flies way over his head and he glares at Asher. 

 

Asher shrugs and points at the ball, wordlessly telling him to go get it. “It’s because I wasn’t there for you to cheat off of,” Asher counters. 

 

“Well that too,” Emerson agrees as he comes back with the ball.

 

“You really should stop doing that, Emerson,” Asher admonishes softly. “You really should think of your future.”

 

“What future? We’re twelve,” Emerson counters.. “Anyway, I’m pooped. I think I might call in sick tomorrow.”

 

“It’s barely our first day back,” Asher says, confused. “What can you be so pooped from?”

 

“Life, I dunno,” Emerson says as he shrugs. “Oh I heard from Hayden that your baby sister was born.”

 

Asher’s face blanches at the mention of Vero. His mind immediately inundated with things he does not want to remember. He shakes it off and turns back to his friend. “Did you know that girls push the babies out of their vaginas?”

 

“Huh,” Emerson says, his head tilting. “How?”

 

Asher takes off the baseball glove from his left hand and throws it aside. He looks and grabs the stick from the ground.  He walks over to an empty baseball field, calling over his shoulder for Emerson to follow him. He crouches between the home plate and first base, using the dirt there as his canvas. He draws out what he remembers from his cringe inducing experience, but was eager to show Emerson something new that he learned.

 

“Like this!”

-

-

-

Christen looks up from her spot in their small breakfast nook as she works on her laptop, a smile involuntarily pulling at the edges of her lips as she watches Tobin making faces at Vero at the corner of the living room, trying to get her to smile. Micah was next to them, looking at the baby curiously. 

 

“You wanna say hi to Vero?” Tobin asks Micah, turning the baby to him. “Say hi, Micah.”

 

Micah kneels next to them to take a closer look at Vero, putting his right hand on Tobin’s shoulder for balance. He stares at the baby for a moment and Tobin was curious as to what he was going to do. He reaches over with his hand and puts his palm on Vero’s face. He didn’t slap her, but it wasn’t gentle either. 

 

“Oh!” Tobin exclaims, pulling the baby away from Micah. She was surprised that Vero didn’t even cry at the sudden hand on her face. “No, Micah!” She scolds. “You have to do it gentle, okay?” She shows the little boy, using her two fingers to gently caress Vero’s arm. 

 

Micah was watching Tobin and slowly reaches over mimicking Tobin’s movement. He pulls away and looks up at Tobin, waiting for her approval or scolding. When Tobin praises Micah for being gentle, Micah gives Tobin a smile before he sits back down on his butt and plays with the stuffed Kanga and Roo. 

 

Christen can feel her heart burst and the voice in her head screaming at the cuteness of what just transpired in front of her. She turns back to her laptop, trying to focus back on her work when her phone rings. She grabs it and her heart stutters at seeing the number of Emerson’s mother; her mind already going to the worst case scenario. 

 

“Hello?” 

 

“Hi, Christen. It’s Riley, Emerson’s mom,” Riley says in that perpetually cheery voice of hers.

 

Christen stops the urge to roll her eyes and say,  _ I know Riley, we have caller ID _ . “Hey, what’s up?”

 

“So, um,” Riley begins and immediately Christen knows something was up. Although it was kind of weird that she was calling since Christen knows that Allie and Bati took the older three for a day of fun at the beach so that Tobin and Christen can have some alone time with their new baby. “I heard a congratulations are in order.”

 

“Oh thank you,” Christen says, her tone switching to gushing. “Who told you about our new baby?”

 

“Oh Asher mentioned it to Emerson,” Riley says. “In. Great. Detail.”

 

“Oh,” Christen says, dreading where this was heading next.

-

-

Tobin looks up from playing with Micah and Vero when she hears a loud thud from the kitchen. Micah was down from his seat and was already toddling towards the noise. She follows closely, not wanting him to accidentally injure himself on something in case there was broken glass.

 

“AND YOU CAN SHOVE THAT UP YOUR ASS TOO!” Christen yells before she ends the call, tapping on the glass unnecessarily hard. “It was so much more satisfying when you can slam the phone down!”

 

“Bad phone call?” Tobin asks from the edge of the room. “Also, I hate to remind you this, but you need to put at least fifty dollars in the swear jar.”

 

“Asher is in so much trouble,” Christen answers as she grabs the dining chair from the floor and uprights it. She sits down on it, huffing. 

-

-

-

“Asher!” Christen calls right when he steps foot in the house. 

 

“Uh-oh, what did you do?” Hayden asks her brother.

 

Asher shrugs. “I don’t know.”

 

“That doesn’t sound too good,” Allie comments as she ushers the twins in. “Go see your mom before she gets even more mad.. I’m gonna go find Harry.” Allie goes up the stairs while Kaylee, James, and Jude go in the backyard to play with the dogs.

 

“Asher Alexander Kelly!” Christen calls again, her voice harsher.

 

Hayden winces and pats Asher on the back. “Good luck, brother,” she says before joining her cousins and sister in the backyard.

 

Asher walks to the kitchen, slowly. “Hi, mom,” he says, softly, already batting his eyes and giving Christen a charming smile.

 

Christen rolls her eyes at his act and points at the chair in front of her. “Sit down.”

 

Asher immediately sits and tries to look as apologetic as possible even though he doesn’t know why he’s in trouble. “You look very pretty today, mommy.”

 

“Nice try, buddy,” Christen says, ignoring the Heath smile. “I got an interesting call from Emerson’s mother today,” she says, watching Asher carefully. He looks genuinely confused and Christen realizes that he really didn’t know that what he was doing wasn’t okay. “You gave Emerson a sex education?”

 

“He wanted to know!” Asher defends. “So I told him! Was I not supposed to? It’s just what the body does!” His words stumble over each other as he tries to defend himself, his voice rising in pitch. “I didn’t do anything wrong.” He was already at the edge of his seat, ready to defend any accusation that might be thrown at him.

 

“You didn’t,” Christen agrees. “But some parents don’t like it when their kids learn about sexual reproduction or anything that has to do with sex in general.”

 

Asher was confused and he voiced it to Christen. “But we’re going to learn about that anyway! You signed the paper!”

 

“Yeah, but not all parents want to talk about it with their kids, you know,” Christen says, even though she’s pretty sure Asher does not.. “We’ve explained to you how sex works and unfortunately, you got a front row seat to how the labor process works.”

 

“But it’s just the body!” Asher says. “Why would people not want to know about their own bodies?”

 

“Not all parents are like that,” Christen explains. “Emerson’s mom is not like us, Asher. They’re not as open to this as we are. So I need you not to give an impromptu sex ed class to the rest of the kids in your class, alright?”

 

Asher sighs. “Okay, it’s dumb, but okay,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“Thank you,” Christen sighs. “Now should I expect another angry phone call?”

 

Asher’s face screws up as he says. “Welll….”

-

-

-

“CHRISTEN ANNEMARIE!!!”

 

They were on their bed, sitting while Vero laying in between them. They were just watching her pump her arms and legs as she stares at them, her eyes a little unfocused, grunting. 

 

Christen looks at her wife, confused as to why they hear a suddenly pissed off kid. “Are they allowed to middle name us?”

 

Tobin chuckles. “What did you do, Chris?”

 

“Nothing!” Christen reflexively says. “At least nothing bad. I don’t think so anyway.”

 

They can hear Asher’s heavy footsteps as he stalks down the hallway as their door was open, never really closing or locking it anymore. Asher appears in the doorway and Christen can see the redness in his face to show he was really mad and probably been stewing things over. 

 

“Mom,” Asher says as he narrows his eyes at her. 

 

“Hey, Asher, what’s up?” Christen asks as he sits up. 

 

“Emerson told me that his mom won’t let him come over anymore because you said something really mean to his mom,” Asher says. 

 

Christen winces as she remembers the phone call that she admits was not of her finer moments at all. The woman just caught her at a bad time as she was sleep deprived, dealing with a newborn and a toddler, and her grumpy, needy wife who just wanted to cuddle all the time and she hasn’t gotten any work done! And just thinking about it just makes her want to hide herself underneath her pillow for being so short to the woman, who had concerns (although there were much more important things to worry about) about the stuff that her son’s best friend was teaching her son.. I mean she could relate to that.

 

“Mom, you told us if we had nothing good to say to not say anything at all,” Asher continues. 

 

“I know, but-”

 

“You tell us to just be the bigger person and let it go unless what they’re saying is racist, sexist or homophobic,” Asher says. He shakes his head as he stares at his mother and sighs. “Mommy, I’m not mad...I’m just disappointed.” 

 

Christen watches Asher leave, her mouth agape as she tries to process what just happened. “Uh…” she looks to Tobin again. “Did I just get a lecture from our kid?”

 

Tobin nods. “Yeah, but you know he’s right. You should probably call and apologize to Em’s mother.”

 

Christen groans. “Yeah, okay. They’re so going to talk about how we’re corrupting other people’s children at the next PTA.”

 

“Yeah, but at least she won’t be talking about you blowing up on her,” Tobin says as she reaches behind her for either one of their phones. She hands over her phone. “Here you go. Go make that call! Vero and I will be waiting here for you.”

 

Christen groans again and takes the phone from her outstretched hand. She goes to the garage, not wanting anyone to hear her apologize. When Riley doesn’t pick up, she sighs in relief. She leaves a voicemail, using the most sincerest apologetic voice she can muster even though she was dying inside. She gets off the phone feeling a little bit better that she apologized for her heated words last time they talked. Before she goes back to her room to rejoin her wife and her newborn, she makes a detour to Asher’s room. She knocks on the door, slowly opening it. 

 

“Hey, Ash, can I talk to you for a moment?” Christen asks.

 

Asher spins his chair to face her. “Yeah, what’s up, mom?”

 

“I called Emerson’s mom and apologized so she’s probably going to let Emerson hang out with you,” Christen says.

 

Asher pretends to wipe sweat off his brow.  “Whew! Thanks, Mom, I thought-”

 

Christen holds up a finger. “Wait, I’m not done,” she says. “So I know that compared to other parents, your mother and I are very lax, but I want to remind you that I’m your mother first off. It’s my job to discipline you not the other way around. I do appreciate that you told me what was going on, but the way you said it was not the way you say it to your mother, okay?”

 

Asher looks scared as he nods. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that. I swear!”

 

Christen gives him a soft smile. “I know you didn’t. It was just the heat of the moment. Just like the words I spoke to Em’s mom so we both made mistakes today, but we apologized.”

 

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Asher apologizes again. 

 

“You’re not in trouble, Ash,” Christen says. She stands up and gives Asher a side hug, glancing at his desk to see that he was playing a video game. She boops her on the nose as she grabs his Switch. “Finish your homework first, bub.”

 

Asher groans as he reaches for his console. “Wait, I need to save!” 

 

Christen gives him the console and waits for him to do his thing with it since Christen really has no idea what Asher does with the thing. Asher pouts as he hands over his Switch, waving goodbye at it as Christen leaves. 

 

Christen puts the console in their dresser and joins Vero and Tobin on the bed. Vero was asleep, but Tobin was still watching her like a hawk as if she’ll miss something important if she turns away. 

Tobin looks up for a second to Christen, watching her face for a moment. She smiles as she realizes was such in a chipper mood after she apologized, an action she doesn’t particularly like. “How did it go?”

 

“Oh good,” Christen says, nonchalantly confirming her suspicion.

 

Tobin’s smile got wider. “You got her voicemail, didn’t you?”

 

“Yes,” Christen says, quickly. “I mean it’s better that way because I don’t know how I can stomach listening to her voice giving me snide comments regarding my parenting because we actually talking to our son about important things.”

 

Tobin laughs. “And you hate apologizing.”

 

“That too,” Christen says, waving it off. “Now onto other important things, what has our cutie been up to?”

 

“Nothing, she’s just sleeping,” Tobin says as she grazes her fingers over her tummy. There was a small sound that filled the air and Tobin and Christen look down at their baby. Vero was still sleeping peacefully, her small chests rhythmically moving up and down. They looked at each other, snickering softly as not to wake up the baby. “Oh my god she just farted.”

 

“Is it weird that I think that’s the cutest fart?” Christen asks, as she grins at Tobin. 

 

“No because I think so too,” Tobin replies, still snickering. 

 

“Oh god,” Tobin groans, pinching her nose. “It smells.”

 

Christen’s nose scrunches as the smell hits her nose. “Oh ew.”

 

“Your turn to watch her, I’m going to go see what Hayden and Kaylee are up to,” Tobin says as she slowly gets off the bed, making as little movement as possible. “See ya later, babe.”

 

Christen watches as she leaves, her hand over her nose as she tries not to inhale the stench. “Tobin!” she whispers angrily. When Tobin doesn’t come back she sighs and slowly picks up Vero to put her in her crib. “Cry when you need us,” Christen says as she grabs Asher’s Switch and tries to see why Asher loves it so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it!


	3. lying by omission is still lying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. I will do it when I wake up as it is currently almost 3:00 AM. So reader beware?

Tobin helps Elijah with his pants, pulling it up for him as Vero thought it was very funny to tell Elijah he was a fish and that means he had to live in the tank. Tobin had walked in on Vero giving his brother a boost into the tank. Tobin can’t wait for school to start back up again after this holiday season.

 

“Alright, buddy, remember Vero has no magic, she can’t turn you into anything,” Tobin says.

 

Elijah nods as Vero walks by the room, waving her wand as she sing-songs, “She’s lying!”

 

“I knew getting her that wand was a bad idea,” Tobin mutters as she closes the door to Micah and Elijah’s room.

 

They went to Universal Studios  as Kaylee wanted to go back to the Harry Potter World for her 16th birthday as the first time they went was for her 8th birthday and to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary seeing as Tobin was a huge Harry Potter dork and Tobin wanted Christen to feel the magic (sexually innuendo intended).

 

The kids loved it and so did Tobin and Christen as for at least one of those days, they let Hayden and Asher have the kids and they just stayed in their bedroom, reveling in each other. Vero loved it especially as she was already a Potterhead. She and Kaylee would watch the first movie over and over again and have a little book club of just the three of them, helping each other read the first book as that’s the only book out of the whole series that Christen gave the green light for Vero to read.

 

When they got there, Vero begged them to go to Ollivander’s first as she wanted to get her wand. Just their luck, Micah and Vero was chosen to have the wand ceremony. From then on, Vero and Micah were convinced that they can do magic and little Elijah was so convinced the his siblings were wizards and witches that he was willing to do anything for them. The interactive displays at Harry Potter World didn’t help either.

 

It was cute and hilarious at first, but now Vero is taking it a little too far. Even going as far as saying that her bunny, Alai, was a trapped wizard (like all bunnies were) and every time she stares at you, she’s going to eat you. Elijah now fears for his life and would now refuse to go inside their playroom where the cage is.

 

She goes to their bedroom first, straightening out the pillows and putting away the trinkets that the kids would drag in there to show their mothers only to leave it there and drive Christen crazy. She hears the door open and voices entering the house. She glances at the clock at their nightstand, seeing as it was too early for Christen to be home.  

 

She goes downstairs quickly, fearing that someone had broken into their house. Instead she finds her two oldest, toeing their shoes off their feet as the younger ones crowd around them, trying to get their attention.

 

“Hi, Ma!” Asher greets as he walks towards her with his arms outstretched. At 6’1”, Asher certainly dwarfs everyone in his family. “I missed you!”

 

“I missed you too,” Tobin says, standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on his cheek. She pulls away and looks over to Hayden who was waiting for her turn. “Hey, Hayds!”

 

“Hi, mama,” Hayden says as she wraps her arms around Tobin.

 

“Why didn’t you guys tell me you were coming here early?” Tobin asks.

 

“We wanted it to be a surprise!” Asher says. “So…” He holds out his arms. “Surprise!”

 

Tobin rolls her eyes at her oldest. “Mom should be back around 4 or so. There’s food in the kitchen if you guys want any.” Tobin says as she walks to the kitchen to take out the meat that was supposed to be defrosting.

 

“We had some on the way here,” Asher says as he stops to yawn and stretch. “Actually, I’m going to go take a nap. I had to wake up at like 4 AM so I can pick up this one from the airport.” He jabs his thumb over to Hayden who was now seated on the counter.

 

“I told you I could’ve just gotten a cab!” Hayden calls back. She turns back to Tobin, who was plating leftovers for her. “Your son is out of control.”

 

“He’s your brother,” Tobin says as she puts it in front of Hayden. “Here, you look like you haven’t eaten.” Tobin sees Vero and Elijah follow him, wanting to play and just hang out with him at the corner of her eye. “Veronica! Elijah! Let him sleep!”

 

“I haven’t,” Hayden says as she eats the lasagna. She looks over her shoulder to see the two at the second step of the stairs ready to bolt. “Yeah, c’mere Vero tell me what you’re learning in third grade.”

 

Vero skips over ready to tell Hayden about her day, using the wand as an aid.

 

“And I turned Lijah to a fish!” Vero finishes with a flick of her wand, hitting her brother in the head. “But momma stopped that transformashun before he turned into a fish.”

 

“Ouch!” Elijah says rubbing the top of his head.

 

“Sorry, Lijah,” Vero says as she leans over and place a kiss on his head. “There all better.” She clambers on the seat next to Hayden and turns to her mother. “Momma can I have what Hayden is having?”

 

Elijah goes to Hayden, tapping her on the leg. “Help?”

 

Hayden laughs. “Sure buddy!” She grabs him by the armpit and seats him next to Vero. “You want some of the lasagna too?”

 

“No,” Elijah says. “Can I have juice?”

 

“Sure, bud,” Tobin says as she grabs the orange juice and pours him a mug. “Here you go.”

 

Hayden watches Vero and Elijah trading their food and drink with each other, something she, Kaylee and and Asher do as children at restaurants. They must’ve picked it up from them.

 

“It’s crazy,” Hayden comments, pulling her eyes from the two to look at her mother.

 

Tobin was doing what Hayden was doing, watching her three children from different points of moments in her life. “What is?” Tobin asks.

 

“Vero was the same age as Asher and I and Elijah was the same age as Kaylee when we all first met each other,” Hayden comments. “That’s crazy to me.” She shakes her head, wonderstruck as she realizes how young they were back then. “Sometimes I don’t even remember my life before you and Asher came into ours.”

 

Hayden looks down playing with her food, her mood taking a dive as she realizes something that she used to dread as a child. “Tobin, sometimes I forget how my mother and father were.”

 

“Oh, Hayds,” Tobin whispers as she goes around the counter to give her a hug. Hayden lays her head on her shoulder, loving the way Tobin mothers her. Being away from her family really does take a toll on her. She’s homesick more than she was during her first year away. “You and Chris should go visit them before you leave.”

 

Hayden nods as she pulls away and tries to center herself as to not alarm the two younger ones. She clears her throat and continues eating before saying with an impish smile, “You know you’ll be almost 60 years old when Elijah leaves for college.”

 

“Hey, watch it,” Tobin throws a wad of paper towel at her as she grabs some of the vegetables that she needs from the fridge. She lays them out on the cutting board and starts chopping them. “Don’t remind me. Your mom and I will be working with one foot in the grave.”

 

Hayden rolls her eyes. “Oh, please, you’re a millionaire ma.”

 

Tobin laughs at her assumption, but doesn’t correct it. Tobin came out with a line of Young Adult spy books ala Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks that were doing pretty well as Disney just acquired the rights to it for a TV show. She wasn’t a millionaire, but they were comfortable.

 

“Where’s Roo and Kayls?” Hayden asks, noticing that her younger sister had never greeted her or Asher when they came in.

 

“Roo is with Bati and the boys,” Tobin says. “They went camping.”

 

“Aunt Allie and Noelle didn’t go?” Hayden asks.

 

“You know how much Allie hates the wilderness,” Tobin says with a laugh. “I think she stayed with Lex and Kelley and their girls.”

 

“Where’s Kayls?” Hayden asks.

 

“Practice,” Tobin says

 

“No she’s not,” Vero says, laughing at them. “She’s with her girlfriend.”

 

Hayden’s and Tobin’s eye swing to her, both eyes wide. Hayden with fear and exasperation while Tobin’s were confusion and surprise.

 

Vero was oblivious too busy concentrating on trying to eat the lasagna, tongue at the corner of her mouth. She looks up when she feels their eyes on her. “What?”

 

“What?” Tobin repeats, her knife-laden hand was hovering over the carrots as she stares at her youngest daughter. Hayden quickly reaches over and grabs the knife, not wanting another knife meet finger accident.

 

“What?” Vero asks again, confused, not realizing what she just said.

 

“Vero, where is Kaylee?” Tobin asks again. She was confused and hurt that Kaylee had lied to her twice in one sentence.

 

Vero realizing she must’ve said something wrong, keeps her mouth shut as her eyes went from her sister next to her and to her mother. She rearranges her features to look confused and as innocent as she can. “What?”

 

“Oh don’t play dumb, Vero,” Tobin warns. “You said Kaylee has a girlfriend.”

 

“Oh good, she finally told you! I’m telling you it’s been hard this couple of months trying to keep that a secret,” Asher says, wiping a imaginary sweat on his brow as he enters the kitchen. He looks around at Tobin’s confused look, Vero’s scared face, and Hayden’s wide eyes. Hayden raises her hand and cuts it across her neck. “Oh shit, she didn’t told you.”

 

“No!” Tobin says. “When did Kaylee get a girlfriend?”

 

“Well,” Asher begins.

 

“Asher no!” Hayden interrupts, giving him a look to _shut up_.

 

Tobin turns to Hayden, glaring accusingly at her. “You knew?”

 

Hayden sighs but nods. “Yeah.”

 

Tobin looks downcast at finding out Kaylee has a girlfriend. Tobin and Kaylee’s relationship had always been special since they spent so much time with each other in the earlier years. She thought that they’ve developed this relationship where Kaylee can pretty much tell Tobin anything (actually, she hopes that she’s developed this relationship with all of her kids).

 

“Ma, I’m sure she’ll tell you soon,” Asher says, trying to undo his mistake and appease his mother. “And she didn’t exactly tell me, I just accidentally caught her kiss her goodbye when I went to pick her up. She didn’t know I was already there.”

 

“Yeah and she didn’t tell me either,” Hayden admits. “I think she meant to send a text to her, but she ended up sending it to me.”

 

“Oh,” Tobin says, unsure as to what she was supposed to do with this information.

 

“So technically, she hasn’t told any of us,” Hayden says as if that would make everything better.

 

Tobin’s phone pings with a text twice. She looks down to see it was Kaylee asking to be picked up and Christen saying she was heading home.

 

She grabs her keys and the two oldest immediately asked where she was heading. “To pick up your sister,” she answers.

 

“Hey, maybe I should pick her up,” Asher offers.

 

“No, I can pick her up,” Tobin answers as she heads to the garage.

 

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret!” Asher calls to his mother.

 

“Should we warn Kaylee?” Hayden asks, already on her phone pulling up their group chat.

 

“Oh yeah,” Asher says.

 

Vero looks up at Asher, glumly. “Ash am I in trouble?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Asher says. “Not with our moms, but probably with Kaylee.”

-

-

-

Christen drops her shoes in the mudroom, groaning at how the kids just haphazardly, threw everything on the floor with no semblance of order. She enters the living room, seeing her two oldest watching tv with the two youngest on the floor.

 

“Hey, you guys are here!” Christen greets as Hayden and Asher shoots up from the couch to hug her. “This is certainly a nice surprise.” She kisses Hayden and Asher on the cheek as she puts her bag down against the couch. “Where’s your mother?”

 

“She went to pick up Kaylee,” Asher says as they lay back on the couch.

 

“You guys aren’t going to say hi to me?” Christen asks the two youngest one who are laying on the floor, their eyes closed.

 

“We can’t cuz we’re dead,” Vero answers, as she looks through one eye at Christen before promptly closing it again.

 

“Oh you’re dead?” Christen asks, amusement tinging her tone. “Then I guess you wouldn’t want to eat the ice cream cake I bought?”

 

Elijah open his eyes as he sits up. “Ice cream cake?”

 

“Yep,” Christen says as she pops the p.

 

“What flavor?” Elijah asks, narrowing his eyes.

 

“Birthday cake.”

 

Elijah looks down at his sister and pats her cheek. “Sorry, Vero, you’re on your own.” He goes to Christen, tugging her to the kitchen.

 

Vero sits up as well and glances at the door. She turns to Asher and Hayden, asking, “I mean I could be dead after I eat ice cream cake? Like a prisoner’s last meal.”

 

Hayden laughs. “Yeah, sure, Vero.”

 

“Cool,” Vero says as she stands up, heading to the kitchen.

 

The door opens and an angry Kaylee storms in, leaving a trail of shocked eyes or in Vero’s case, frightened eyes. Tobin slinks in after, crestfallen and glum.

 

“I’m dead,” Vero breathes out in fright before falling to the floor and closing her eyes.

 

“What happened?” Christen asks.

 

“She got mad at me,” Tobin says as she moves to where her wife is at in the kitchen. She sees the ice cream cake on the island and goes to it. “Awesome, you got it.” She immediately grabs a slice.

 

“Is that why you had me buy ice cream cake?”

 

“Well yeah,” Tobin says as she puts another bigger slice on the plate. “And to make me feel better if this doesn’t work.”

 

“Good luck, ma!” Asher calls out.

 

“You got this!” Hayden shout to her, trying to hype her up.

 

Tobin gives them a thumbs up as she goes up the stairs with the plate of two slices of ice cream cake and two forks. She ignores the blasting music and knocks on Kaylee’s door. The music pauses and Tobin counts that as a win.

 

“Go away!” Kaylee yells back.

 

“Kaylee, please I just want to talk to you,” Tobin says. Right after she says that the music starts playing again.

 

Tobin sighs and sits against the door with the ice cream cake on her lap. She gives it until the next song starts before she tries again.

 

“I have ice cream cake!”

 

The music pauses and Tobin can hear her soft footfalls as she walks towards the door. Tobin stands up quickly, careful of the slices of cake on her plate. When Kaylee opens the door, Tobin offers her the forks.

 

Kaylee sighs and takes one before she heads to the window seat in her room, planting herself on there, waiting for Tobin to join her.

 

Tobin internally fist pumps as she joins Kaylee there. She holds out the plate allowing Kaylee to have the first bite. They ate in silence, refusing to be the first one to break the silent stronghold.

 

Until Tobin couldn’t take it anymore and said, “So how long have you guys been together?”

 

“We’ve been dating for almost six months now,” Kaylee says. “But we’ve been friends for years.” She picks up another bite of the ice cream cake.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tobin asks as she puts the plate down on the desk that was just to the right of the window seat. “Was there something I said that made you not want to talk to me?”

 

“No, ma,” Kaylee says, refusing to look her in the eyes.

 

“Then what was it?” Tobin asks. “You’ve been with her for six months and I only found out and that’s because you’re siblings are blabbermouths.” When Kaylee didn’t respond, Tobin continues. “Because I thought  your mother and I have shown you and your siblings that you can tell us anything. We want you to be able to come to us. We want to know what’s going on with your lives.”

 

“Ma,” Kaylee breathes. “I thought it was because you were going to be disappointed in me.”

 

“Disappointed? Why would I be disappointed? It’s normal for kids your age to have relationships.” Tobin lets out a wry laugh. “Honestly, Kayls, I’m more disappointed that you didn’t tell me yourself.”

 

“I thought you would be disappointed because I’m gay,” Kaylee admits. She looks down, her hair immediately forming a barrier between Tobin and her.

 

Tobin laughs. “Honey, your mother mother is bi and I'm gay. We would never disappointed because of that,” she leans over and whispers, “Honestly I would much rather prefer this than you being straight.” She pulls back. “What gave you that ludicrous idea that we would be disappointed that your just like me?”

 

Kaylee’s brows furrows and Tobin can see her brain working behind her green eyes. “Yeah now that I think about it. That really is silly.”

 

Tobin smiles putting an arm around her, giving her  half hug. “Good that you see it now.”

 

Kaylee picks up the cake from the desk and brings it over to her so that they can finish it. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, Momma.”

 

“It’s okay, Kaylee,” Tobin says. “I do what to know what’s going on with your life. I love it when you tell me these things. Now tell me about her.”

 

Kaylee smiles. “I mean I don’t have to. You guys know who she is.”

 

“Really?” Tobin asks, mentally going through all of Kaylee’s friends.

 

“Yeah, I’m surprised Asher didn’t mention her,” Kaylee says.

 

“Well Asher said he was too far to see who it was,” Tobin tells her. “Besides we all know Asher is blind without his glasses.”

 

Kaylee laughs. “That is true.”

 

“So who’s the lucky gal?”

 

“I think I’m the lucky one,” Kaylee says. “It’s Olivia.”

 

Tobin chokes on her piece of cake. “Ali and Ash’s Olivia?”

 

Kaylee gives her a weird look. “Do you guys know any other Olivia?”

 

“Olivia Pope from _Scandal_?”

 

“What’s _Scandal?”_

 

“Never mind,” Tobin says, waving her off. “Do they know?”

 

“They should by now,” Kaylee says. “Asher and Hayden warned me so I told Olivia and she said she was going to tell her parents.”

 

There was a knock on Kaylee’s door and they look up to see Christen peeking her head in. “Everything okay?”

 

Kaylee nods. “Yeah everything is great, mom.”

 

“Good,” Christen smiles. “I love you, baby.”

 

“Love you too, mommy,” Kaylee calls back as Christen closes the door.

 

“You’re not going to tell Christen?” Tobin asks, ready to call her back.

 

“Mom? She already knows,” Kaylee says.

 

“You told her?” Tobin asks, the hurt returning again that she was basically the last person to know that her baby girl was dating.

 

“No,” Kaylee says. “She told me, she knows I’m dating someone, but that was it.” She shrugs. “I don’t know how mom knew but she knew.”

 

“Yeah she’s kind of freaky that way, huh?” Tobin asks. “I’m glad you told me.”

 

“I’m glad you know now,” Kaylee admits as she stands up and hugs Tobin. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”

 

“Well now you can just catch me up,” Tobin says as she settles in the window seat to hear all about the story of how her life got flipped all upside down. 

-

-

-

Christen lays in their bed, reading a back-issued New Yorker, waiting for Tobin to return from Kaylee’s room. She was almost finished with the article when she feels the bed dip next to her and lips were pressed against her shoulder as Tobin rests her head there, reading what she was reading. Christen finishes the article and gives Tobin a couple of more minutes to finish it.

 

Tobin drops a kiss on her shoulder again to indicate that she was finished. Christen closes it and puts it on her nightstand.

 

“So did she tell you who she’s dating?”

 

“You don’t know who?” Tobin asks surprised. “She says you knew she was dating someone.”

 

“Yeah but I didn’t know who,” Christen says. “That’s what happens when you’re informant barely learned how to read.”

 

“Informant...Vero?” Tobin laughs.

 

“Yeah, the little shit knows where Kaylee keeps her diary and I caught her reading it once six months ago,” Christen says. “That’s how I found out.” Christen sits on her knees as she looks at Tobin excitedly. “But it was pretty new then so Kaylee didn’t really tell me who she was dating.”

 

“You do know what this means, right?” Tobin asks, looking too confident and too smug for her liking (though she admits that smug Tobin is one of her favorite Tobins. She’s just so hot when she looks like that).

 

“What?” Christen asks, narrowing her eyes.

 

“I finally have information that I can use for leverage,” Tobin proclaims. “This-”

 

“Oh god,” Christen says. Mortified.

 

“Is-”

 

“No-”

 

“Unprecedented!”

 

“Just tell me!” Christen demands, straddling Tobin.

 

Tobin shakes her head. “Nope. I’ll give it a day or two then I’ll tell you.”

 

“I also have leverage,” Christen says.

 

Tobin raises an eyebrow. “Better than who our daughter is dating because I bet you my leverage is so much better.”

 

Christen raises her hand. “Yes! This!” She didn’t give Tobin a chance to respond with her customary sexual innuendo as she starts tickling every weakness that she knows. Tobin writhes beneath her, laughing and giggling. “Tell me who it is!”

 

“Never!”

 

“Alright,” Christen says as she begins her tickling attack again.

 

There was a knock on the door and Christen stops, but didn’t get off Tobin, making herself even heavier, knowing that Tobin can easily knock her off if she wanted to.

 

“You guys better not be doing anything naughty in there!” Asher shouts to them, sniggering.

 

“Fuck off, Asher!” Tobin yells back, making Christen slap her on her arm.

 

“Hey, the jar is still in effect!” Asher says, opening the door with his arm over his eyes. “I take mine as gas cards!”

 

Tobin grabs the pillow on the floor and chucks it at Asher, making Asher pull back and close the door. “I’ll give it to you guys tomorrow!”

 

“When can we curse again?” Christen groans.

 

“When we’re in our 60s.” Tobin groans throwing her had against headboard. “We’re so old!”

 

“Ew,” Christen says her nose wrinkling. “Anyway back to business.”

 

Tobin grabs her wrists before she can commence another attack. “Don’t strain yourself, Press.” She lets go of Christen’s wrists and let her hands rest at her hips. “It’s Olivia.”

 

“Olivia?”

 

“Ash and Ali’s Olivia.”

 

“Aw,” Christen coos. “Well Christmas should be interesting.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: 12percentofmoments


End file.
